7lb chub on first cast

Dai Gribble proved why he’s one of the UK’s best all-rounders when he turned his attentions to running water and landed this 7lb chub.
The Korum-backed angler from Staffordshire dug out some home-made cheese paste from his freezer and set off to a tough southern river.
He didn’t have to wait long before his legered hookbait was taken by the mint-conditioned fish on his very first cast. It was beaten with 6lb mainline and hooklink, and a size 6 hook.

Two bests in just one week

It was a week to remember for Phil Taylor as he smashed two personal bests on his local rivers.
The Lincolnshire angler went in search of a big chub and started the session by legering cheese paste.
A 4lb brace was an early reward, but the best of the day came just as the light was failing, with a 6lb 4oz personal best (pictured) going into the net.
Days later he opted for a change of tactics, relying on floatfished breadflake to tempt a few bites.
A series of roach to 1lb 10oz were enough to put a smile on Phil’s face, but the icing on the cake came when an elusive 14oz dace provided him with his second record.

Another chub seven

Jamie Cartwright’s start to his chub campaign just keeps getting better – his latest capture saw him net this impressive 7lb 7oz specimen.
A boilie wrapped in matching paste did the trick for the former Drennan Cup champion from Northamptonshire, when he concentrated on a stretch of the Great Ouse – a venue that recently produced another huge chub for him weighing 7lb 3oz.
His rig consisted of a braided hooklink, 10lb line and a size 10 hook. His CC Moores Pacific Tuna boilies were broken into pva bags to draw the fish towards his hookbait.

Paste too tempting for 7lb 2oz Ouse chub

The Great Ouse is on top big chub form at the moment, and it delivered a fish over the 7lb mark for Herts-based specialist Leighton McDonnell.
A paste hookbait moulded around two 13mm cork balls did the trick when he hooked the 7lb 2oz specimen just as the light was beginning to fade.
 Leighton fished the paste in conjunction with 6lb mainline and a size 4 Nash Fang hook.
“I’ve been having loads of success with my paste recently, taking chub to 5lb 11oz,” he said.
 “But to have such a fish from a brand new stretch I’ve only recently started fishing is a great start to my winter campaign.”

7lb 6oz chub on a size 18!

The benefits of fining down your tackle for big winter chub were proved by Nigel Davis, who smashed his personal best with a 7lb 6oz fish – topping a list of great specimens banked this week.
A size 18 hook baited with a single maggot was enough to overcome the powerful lunges of the big chub when the specialist, from Fordingbridge, Hants, targeted a Christchurch Angling Club stretch of the famous Dorset Stour.
After a biteless morning fishing with more robust gear and breadflake on the hook, he tackled up with his favourite centrepin reel, a 15ft float rod and a 3lb 2oz mainline tied to a 1.4kg hooklink to try to bring a response from the shy-biting chub.
“As soon as I began trotting I started catching small dace, then a chub well over 4lb,” said Nigel.
“I was so lucky that I had slack water on the inside of my swim, otherwise I wouldn’t have stood a prayer of landing it because the fish was so powerful in the flow and I had to keep it out of the reeds.
“It took me a good 10 minutes to land it, and as soon as I saw it in the net I knew it was a new personal best because it had a belly like a football.”
Moving further east, Jamie Cartwright’s first cast for chub this winter resulted in a 7lb 3oz chub.
It was the only fish of a short evening session on the River Great Ouse for the former Drennan Cup winner, and fell to a CC Moore boilie wrapped in matching paste and fished in conjunction with a PVA bag of crushed baits and pellets threaded on to a coated braid hooklink.
This is the second chub over 7lb to be taken from the popular waterway so far in 2015, and the Northampton-shire Specimen Group member beat it with a size 10 hook and 10lb line.
“This was my first cast of the winter and the best start to a campaign I could have ever wished for,” said Jamie.
“Many river anglers just nick their PVA bag straight on to the hook, but this can come off and just roll downstream in a ball.
“To ensure it stays in one place and that there’s no debris caught on the hook, I thread the bag on to my hooklink instead.”

Two chub for close on 16lb!

One of the biggest chub braces ever – fish of 8lb 4oz 8dr and 7lb 10oz – has been banked by specimen angler Robert Young from a Christchurch AC stretch of the Dorset Stour.

The Bournemouth-based computer engineer visited the fast-flowing river every day for three months to introduce a handful of boilies.

“I had fed quite a few swims since the summer and knew there were big fish present, as I had already caught three chub to 7lb 5oz, but having not fished this particular swim before I wasn’t expecting a catch like this,” said Robert, who used 12lb mainline and a Drennan fluorocarbon hooklength tied to a size 8 hook.

“I used a PVA mesh bag of loose offerings, and wrapped another around the lead so as not to spook the fish when it hit the gravel.”

The rod-tip began twitching within minutes of his arrival and moments later he was netting a new personal best after the bigger of the two chub took his single hair-rigged boilie. He had to wait for over an hour for his second fish, the seven-pounder.

The ‘eight’ is a new club record, and a catch Chub Study Group secretary Iain Nairn believes will be remembered for a long time.

“This stretch of river is well capable of producing a big fish but to get two in a session from the same swim is incredible. This will go down as one of the best catches in chub fishing history,” he said.

Another angler to celebrate this week was Mark Jones, when his floatfished lobworm, intended for perch, brought a bite from a huge 8lb 1oz chub.

The Coventry-based man began his epic day on a stretch of the River Great Ouse controlled by Milton Keynes AA.

While the light held he fished for roach and dace, but once darkness fell and the venue’s resident big perch began to put in an appearance, the 49-year-old stepped up his tackle to incorporate a 3lb hooklink and a size 16 hook into his simple waggler rig, looking for a big stripey.

“I’ve been fishing for many different species all my life and I know that this won’t happen again. I really thought the chub was going to be over 7lb, but for it to be over 8lb is simply incredible. I had to check my scales three times just to make sure they were right,” he said.

6lb Derwent chub

River fishing fanatic Julian Barnes has built an affinity with the Derbyshire Derwent, with the venue producing this 6lb 4oz chub for him.
Having heard the waterway was in perfect condition, he journeyed from his home in St Ives, Cambs, to take advantage of the action.
Using a MAD Bait boilie and a small bag of loosefeed inside a PVA bag, he was soon into action and ended the stint with five barbel to a best of 14lb 1oz and the solitary bonus chub.

Rivers on fire for huge chub!

River anglers across the UK are turning their attentions to big chub with a string of popular waterways producing their biggest fish of the season.

Laurence Hanger realised a lifetime ambition of catching a chub over 7lb when he slipped the net under this superb 7lb 4oz specimen.

He’s put in thousands of hours on the River Loddon to achieve his goal, and everything came right when he pinched a single SSG shot on to 6lb mainline and trundled a maggot hookbait close to an overhanging tree to get the bite that brought his new personal best.

“I’ve worked so hard for this fish and to finally land it really made this session one of the greatest days of my life,” said an emotional Laurence.

“I started the session with an aligner rig with a huge PVA bag filled with around half-a-pint of maggots to try and get everything as close to the tree as possible. But after a biteless hour I changed tactics, and it worked almost immediately.”

The River Severn has produced two of its biggest-ever chub, the first being this claimed 8lb specimen (left) banked by Darlach AA member Peter Thompson, who’s fished the upper river for the past 40 years.

Like Laurence, he opted for a single SSG shot to hold bottom, but his hookbait of choice was a large cube of luncheon meat.

Meanwhile, on the lower Severn, a legered tutti-frutti boilie proved to be the right hookbait for Upton’s John Gough when he banked his first chub over the 7lb mark, tipping the scales at 7lb 4oz.

He beat the fish with the help of a braided hooklink and a size 8 Drennan hook, the same set-up that he used to land a double-figure barbel during the same session.

“These fish are wising up to pellets and I think they fill themselves up on them, so I have been using a mixture of Bait Tech groundbait mixed with Vitalin, corn and meat. This has really done the trick,” said John.

“It’s just a shame the pictures of the chub didn’t come out very well at all.”

Huge Kennet chub close to a river record

One of the biggest chub ever caught from the River Kennet has been banked in the form of a 7lb 7oz specimen.
It was caught by big-fish angler Neil Macdonald during an overnight session on an undisclosed stretch of the waterway in Berkshire.
Neil (38) tempted the huge fish on a leger rig consisting of a double hair rigged boilie mounted on a size 10 Pallatrax hook and 12lb Daiwa sensor mainline.
The catch resulted in a third personal best for the species this year for the Reading angler, all from the same stretch.
“The river has been really good to me this season for barbel as well as chub.
“I cannot wait to get back there around January, when I’m pretty sure if I have the pleasure of catching her again she will hopefully be over the magic 8lb mark,” he told Angling Times.

7lb 2oz chub warms cockles of his heart

A near 20-year quest for a 7lb-plus chub from his local Norfolk rivers ended in style for Tom Martin when he captured this 7lb 2oz specimen.
He finally cracked the milestone from the River Wensum, after the Norwich-based angler came agonisingly close in March 2015 with a similar 6lb 15oz specimen. It fell to a simple link ledger with three cockles presented on a size 6 hook, using 6lb line. Tom is a big fan of seafood baits for chub and had prebaited a few likely looking spots with cockles, which he intended to try in short spells. “This was my only fish of the session. The swim has produced for me a number of times. It’s snaggy, but there is a slack on the far side for fish to hole up in,” he said.

8lb chub on a day ticket

A day-ticket stretch of river has produced the biggest chub of the season, tipping the scales at 8lb.
Mark Blincow was fishing on a stretch of the River Ouse controlled by Milton Keynes Angling Association when the new personal best took his freelined lobworm.
The fish was backed up by six chub, which all fell to the same hookbait when the specimen hunter from Northampton fished with 6lb mainline tied straight through to a size 4 Drennan hook. “I knew it was a huge fish as soon as I hit the bite, but then it dived into some snags under the far bank,” said Mark.
“It was tense for a while, but thankfully I got it out and into the net. The frame of the fish was absolutely huge – in fact the guy who took the picture for me first thought it was a carp. This chub is going to be even bigger come winter.”
Mark wasn’t the only one to bank a huge chub this week – 34-year-old Nathan Leney bagged a 7lb 15oz specimen from the famous Kings Weir stretch of the River Lea.
He too used freelining tactics, but this time with home-made cheese paste with 10lb line straight through to a size 4 hook .
 “I found a deep swim where the current flowed under the nearside bank and immediately dropped my cheese paste hookbait in without feeding any loose offerings,” said Nathan.
“The flow carried the bait under the bank and I held the line with my finger.  After a short while I felt the smallest of plucks on the line, so I hit it and the fish was on.
“A friend and I weighed it twice to make sure, but it didn’t quite make 8lb – however, we recognised that it was a known fish called ‘Scar Flank’ that came out early on in the year at 8lb 5oz.”

Prebaiting is key to giant river barbel and chub

Some anglers bait their swim and then wait a couple of hours before fishing it, but Oliver Fisher took it to the extreme when he prebaited the Dorset Stour for over a month before taking a 6lb 12oz chub and a 13lb 10oz barbel in quick succession.
The Dorset angler visited the waterway daily to introduce a carpet of pellets into a number of swims, and within less than a week he noticed signs of specimen fish feeding heavily over the spot.
Rather than wet a line for them straight away, he continued prebaiting for more than a fortnight to gain the confidence of the shoal.
“Every time I went to the swim I could see big barbel and chub moving around, but I was determined to hold off,” said Oliver.
“I knew that the longer I waited, the better my chances were of hooking one of these giants.”
A date was pencilled in for his first ambush of the swim, but the day started badly as he was involved a car crash.
Emerging unscathed from the ordeal, he headed to the venue as planned and within five minutes of casting out he was in action.
“I’d anticipated a wait, but the rod bent round almost straight away. I piled on the pressure and a 6lb 12oz chub was soon in the net,” he said.
“Several others to 5lb 12oz came shortly afterwards and I decided to stay a little longer to see what else I could land.”
Having planned to pack up at midnight, it looked as if the rest of the evening would pass without incident but then, shortly before his revised finish time, his rod was almost ripped off the rest.
“I had to dive at the rod to stop it from going in and I instantly knew that it wasn’t a chub.
“It stripped line from the reel and once on the bank my friend said it was the biggest barbel he had ever seen!” he said.
“This is a stretch of the river that produces a lot of blanks so to catch chub and a barbel this big was very special,” he added.
All the fish fell for a leger rig that Oliver made up from 12lb fluorocarbon mainline, a 15lb Korda Dark Matter braided hooklength and a size 8 hook baited with two Elips pellets.

Lad puts dad in the shade with big chub

Many young anglers begin their fishing careers with a few small roach or perch, but Oliver Smith took six barbel to 9lb as well as this fine 5lb 4oz chub in a recent session.

The four-year-old from Boston, Lincolnshire, put his dad to shame during the outing on a section of the River Trent by catching the fish on a slice of hair-rigged Peperami.

Oliver’s dad, Chris, said: “He completely annihilated me! I had four barbel and he had six, plus the big chub. He picked the rod he wanted to fish with and decided where it was going to be cast. I’ve got to admit that Oliver is already a better angler than me and beat me
fair and square.”

Town centre chub are a pair of personal bests

Robbie Northman proved that you don’t have to fish quiet, secluded spots to catch the biggest fish when he slipped the net under this 6lb 2oz chub.

Fishing the River Wensum in Norwich town centre, he cast a slug hookbait towards a small bush growing from concrete on the popular wall and it was soon taken by the new personal best.

He beat the specimen with 8lb mainline and a size 6 hook, while friend Jordan Lee Mortlock also got in on the action when he also broke his pb with a chub of 4lb 10oz.

6lb River Thames chub caught

Young specimen angler Tom Aldous reaped the rewards for his dedication when he banked this 6lb 1oz chub from a River Thames tributary.

The Hampshire angler walked for more than an hour to get to the swim and, on arrival, cast a link-legered piece of bread into a deep hole.

Action was near-instant – within minutes the rod had hooped over and after a short battle the big chub was in the net.

Tom’s tackle consisted of an SSG shot on 8lb mainline to a size 8 hook.

93lb of Swale chub wins RiverFest clash

As the UK’s rivers enjoy one of their best starts to the season in years, Yorkshire angler Paul Kozyra joined in the fun with a cracking 93lb of chub.

Shown here is just part of his River Swale haul, which was easily enough to win a RiverFest qualifier on the river at Scruton, North Yorkshire.

Paul used stick float and caster for the haul, which comprised 28 fish and earned him a place in the big final on the River Wye.

Amazingly, the Helperby man has now qualified for all three finals of the prestigious running-water competition. Will it be third time lucky in November?

Strike silver at Portland Waters

We might be six weeks into the river shutdown, but anglers who want to catch chub can still get their fix from stillwaters up and down the country.

Take Portland Waters in Nottinghamshire, for example. At first sight this complex near Newark appears to be your typical commercial fishery but recent catches here are more like those you would expect from the nearby River Trent in a couple of months.

Matches at the fishery have seen huge bags of silverfish netted as Radcliffe on Trent’s Mark Baker discovered when he won a recent Angling Times Bait-Tech Supercup event with 60lb of chub from the Portland’s Old Wood Lake earlier this month.

There are five day-ticket lakes to choose from at Portland and they’re all stuffed with silverfish, alongside the more expected carp. We recommend the in-form Four Island Lake, where, chub, barbel, roach, rudd and carp and can all be targeted specifically depending on what you wish to catch.

This 30-peg pool is square in shape but its four islands make each swim more like a canal with pegs on the inside and outer part of the lake. The islands are reachable with 12 metres of pole and like a canal, the deepest water can be found down the middle (5.5ft) with around 2ft in the margins on the inside and across. The barbel go to nearly 7lb and anglers can catch these by design by fishing down the edge with maggots or meat.

The chub average around 2lb and in past summers anglers have bagged 80-90lb of them by feeding a couple of pole cups filled with chopped worms or alternatively catapulting casters and fishing double caster on the hook tight to the far side or down the egdge. There are also some big roach and rudd to over 1lb, and again, these can be targeted specifically by fishing either down the middle or tight to any reed beds with typical redfin favourites like caster or hemp.

If you do want a real red-letter day and catch more 200lb, though, you need to target carp and these can be located by feeding a line down the bottom of the near ledge with your top-two-plus-one as well as across either to an island or one of the gaps between which are known to hold fish using corn, maggots, meat or pellets. 

The carp average around 3-4lb but avoid fishing too light as the odd ‘lump’ up to 14lb can make a surprise appearance. On warm days fishing up in the water with a banded pellet will pay dividends as will paste fishing close-in. Most pegs fish well in summer but pegs 18-22 on the inside are the most consistent.

If you prefer more of a natural style of fishing then head to the Old Wood Pool where you can imitate what Mark Baker did in catching a big bag of chub on maggots but there are also tonnes of roach and skimmers to enjoy too. This pool was also recently stocked with thousands of ide which will take a liking for maggots or casters but it’s not all about silverfish as nets of carp can also be sought with pellet waggler the top tactic.

With so many options and different species to go at other than just carp anglers need not wait for the rivers to re-open to experience silverfish heaven in Nottinghamshire. Simply pay a visit to Portland.

Prices: £6 a day, £5 concessions
Contact: 07818 552307, www.portlandfishing.co.uk
Location: Portland Waters, Longhedge Lane, Sibthorpe, Newark, Notts, NG23 5PN
Rules: Barbless only hooks, no keepnets, no cat or dog meat, no floating baits, no boilies or nuts, no hooks over size 12, no dogs
Facilities: Clubhouse/café, toilets 

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Alan Stagg lifts the Drennan Cup

“I’ve dreamed of this moment since I first started targeting big fish and to think that my name will now sit alongside some of the greatest anglers of all time just blows my mind.”

These are the emotional words of Alan Stagg, who has this week been crowned Drennan Cup Champion.

The Basingstoke based fishing fanatic took the most coveted prize in specimen angling after votes cast by specimen fishing’s elite put him well ahead of the rest of the field in this year’s competition.

At the end of the 2014/15 season Alan had amassed an impressive five weekly awards in his quest for the famous Drennan Cup and ultimately it was the Gardner tackle employee’s versatility and ability to catch some of the biggest specimens from both still and running water that saw him secure the prestigious title.

“It was my birthday and I was in my garden having a celebratory drink and I got the phone call telling me that I’d won and my jaw hit the floor. I could hardly speak as it was the best present I could have ever wished for,” a delighted Alan told Angling Times.

”I’ve had the Drennan Cup in my sights ever since I started targeting big fish and many all of my fishing heroes have their names on the cup and I’ve been close in the past, but words can’t describe what this means to me. It’s such a huge honour because the unique aspect of this competition is that the winner is decided by votes from your fellow anglers and there’s no bigger accolade than that.

Alan’s campaign began last May when he ended a seven-year quest to beat his bream personal best when he slipped the net under a huge 17lb 3oz that was backed up by another fish weighing 16lb 12oz during a session at a southern gravel pit.

His incredible run of form continued on the same venue a few weeks later after netting one of the biggest braces of all time with a combined weight of 34lb 11oz.

The first trip to a new water saw him gain with his third weekly award when he adopted a float-fishing approach to achieve a long-time ambition of catching a rudd over the magical 3lb barrier.

It took him hours to locate the fish but when he found them he landed specimens weighing 3lb 5oz, 2lb 7oz and 2lb 5oz.

He then switched his attentions to running water and proved why he’s regarded as one of the most gifted all-rounders in the sport when his second river session of 2014 on a tributary of the River Thames produced a 15lb 8oz barbel.

It was only fitting that his fifth and final Drennan weekly award saw him join an elite group of anglers who have banked 3lb-plus roach from both still and running water.

The 3lb 3oz 8 dram fish was the first ‘proper’ roach he’d ever banked  from a river and came from a southern chalk stream caught on feeder fished maggots.

“It really was a dream season for me as I achieved so much and banked fish that I’ve been after for so many years,” Alan continued.

“To have come out on top of a field of anglers that’s made up of such well-respected and genuinely inspiring people is a huge honour, but to have my name on the famous Drennan really is as good as it gets.”

Leading the chasing pack in the 2014/15 Drennan Cup competition was Angling Times columnist and Peg One consultant Paul Garner.

He finished his campaign with a total of three weekly awards for impressive specimens such as a huge 12lb 10oz tench, a 3lb 11oz 8 dram rudd and a 4lb 2oz 8 dram personal best rudd.
The remaining places in the top four were filled by well-respected big fish anglers Brian Ingram and Mike Lyddon.

Drennan Cup sponsor Drennan International have again been delighted with the continued popularity of the competition and congratulated Alan on his victory.

“Congratulations to Alan on a richly deserved win.  In all sport, rewards are generally directly proportionate to the amount of effort & practice invested, and I know first-hand how much time Alan puts into his fishing, Said Stewart Moss of Drennan International.

“I’ve personally bumped into him several times on various venues banks over the years and he really is an expert specimen angler and will be an exceptionally popular Drennan Cup champion.”

What they win:
1 Alan Stagg, £2,000
2 Paul Garner, £1,000
3 Brian Ingram, £500
4 Mike Lyddon, £250

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It's a record for RiverFest

A record-breaking year for the sport’s biggest matches continues this week after Riverfest reached a historic landmark by gaining over 2,000 ticket applications for the first time ever.

The big money competition has been a revelation since its creation in 2013 and now event organisers at the Angling Trust have been forced to run a ballot for places this year for the first time as a result of its immense popularity.

Officials have now staged the draw to decide who will compete in the 24 qualifiers, with almost 70 per cent of the heats oversubscribed.

The news comes just weeks after Fish O’Mania once again posted record application numbers.
Angling Times columnist Dave Harrell was the brains behind RiverFest and he said: “It is fantastic news for river fishing and I am overwhelmed at how well supported this tournament has become in such a short space of time.”

“A lot of people said there wasn’t a demand for big money river fishing events but this has blown that theory out of the water. There will be a £35,000 prize pot available to those in the final on the River Wye in November and it’s great that thousands want a shot at the title.”

Venues including the Severn and Warwickshire Avon were amongst those in demand, although the three qualifiers on the Trent proved the most popular.

With a large number of people left disappointed at the prospect of being left on the reserves list, discussions have already opened up to potentially revamp the system next year and Dave added: “There is no reason why we can’t hold bigger qualifiers to cater for more people. We wouldn’t do that at the detriment of the fishing but if an organiser thinks it is feasible, we would open up more pegs for next year.”

TOP FIVE MOST POPULAR QUALIFIERS

60 anglers take part in each heat, with three qualifying for the final
1. River Trent, Holme Marsh – 156 (ticket applications)
2. River Trent, Burton on Trent – 155
3. River Trent, Newark Dyke – 152
4. River Severn, Bewdley – 148
5. River Severn,Worecester to Upton - 145

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Bag 30lb of stillwater barbel from Thorpe Fisheries

There are few commercial fisheries that can be branded as ‘natural’ venues, but Thorpe Fisheries in Tamworth certainly fits the bill thanks to its spring fed waters. The excellent water quality has helped keep the fish healthy across both lakes to insure you’ll be catching immaculate looking specimens throughout your session. When it comes to stillwater barbel, there’s no better place to head than the 42 peg Brook Meadow Pool where they grow to a rod-bending 7lb.

Most methods will catch them however a worm fished next to the sluice between pegs 38 and 39 may well bring you 30lb worth. Aside from barbel, carp to 16lb, tench, roach, chub, bream and crucians all reside here, with 60lb mixed bags a regular occurrence in matches fished over the weekends.

Many anglers prefer to fish the pole at 12m where the shelf starts to run down to around 13ft deep. Krill groundbait works wonders here, especially when double caster, worm or corn is fished over it. Alternatively, the reed lined margins are a perfect place to attack with this groundbait late in the day for a big double figure carp.

The Method feeder with dead maggots on the hook will also produce good bites from tench and carp when chucked to the island.

Alternatively, the 22 peg Spring Pool offers the same species to catch bar the barbel. Due to the vast space of open water, 100lb of quality carp can be amassed on the pellet waggler during the summer, which will soon start to show.

Prices: £7 a day, £5 concessions
Contact: Rosie on 07707680758
Location: Thorpe Fisheries, Clifton lane, Thorpe Constantine, Tamworth, Staffordshire, B79 0LH
Rules: Barbless hooks, no meat, no surface fishing, only 3 tins of corn, landing nets to be dipped before fishing, carp friendly pellets allowed, small inline method feeders only, no dogs allowed.
Facilities: Toilets, parking, disabled access.

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